Netflix In Talks For Third Season Of ‘House Of Cards’

“Our intent is that the show keep going for sure,” said Netflix‘s Ted Sarandos today. “It was a 26-episode commitment. It was not our intent that it just run for two seasons,” he added of House of Cards’ run on the streaming service. Netflix’s Chief Content Officer was delivering the keynote Saturday at Film Independent‘s 9th annual confab at DGA HQ. “Talks are in progress right now,” he told me afterwards on a further deal to lock in more seasons of the Emmy-winning political drama, “so stay tuned.” Former House of Cards EP Rick Cleveland said last month that the series would wrap up after its second season. The lack of any new deal announcement despite the breakout HoC proved to be for Netflix fueled speculation about its demise after the current two season deal was up. The second season of the Kevin Spacey starring series, which is presently in its last week of production, is expected to debut on Netflix early next year. The Film Independent Forum continues Sunday.

Related:Netflix Shares Hit New Highs in Q3In his remarks today, Sarandos also hinted about Netflix releasing “big movies ourselves” and slammed theater owners for holding back innovation in the business. “The model that we’re doing for TV should work for movies. Why not premiere movies the same day on Netflix that they are opening in theaters?” he said noting the draw that House of Cards had with all 13-episodes being available simultaneously to watch. “Think about this last summer, more movies with a production budget of over $75 million were released than ever before in the history of movies .The result of that was a 6% lift in attendance. So the studios have never done less with more,” Sarandos said. “But I don’t fault them, the studios are always trying to innovate,” he told the 80% full Guild auditorium. “Theater owners stifle this kind of innovation at every turn,” the Netflix exec added. “The reason why we may enter the space and release some big movies ourselves this way is because I’m concerned that as theater owners try to strangle innovation and distribution not only are they going to kill theaters, they might kill movies.”

Earlier this week, during Netflix’s quarterly conference call, Sarandos made other remarks about the company getting into movies when he also said that they were looking to start backing documentaries to stream to their nearly 40 million subscribers. The CCO also added at the time that he would “keep my mind wide open” for other genres. However, today Sarandos gave no indication of what that might be or when it could happen. He did add though his belief that “every new technology that was going to kill the move business has grown the movie business.” The Film Independent Forum continues Sunday.

22 Comments

Justin • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I really, really loved the first few episodes of HOC, but then the show fell apart for me. I thought the point of a Netflix type show was to tell a complete story, not just another run-of-the-mill dramas with a stupid cliffhanger for a finale. I was hoping for a really good first part of a major story arch, and I did not get one. I don’t plan on watching HOC again until it’s over, if it after two seasons or more, I will not be fooled again with another pointless, non-ending, ending. But Kevin is GREAT as always.

coppertopolo • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I have to agree. As much as I love Kevin Spacey, it seems Netflix is pulling an ‘Under the Dome’. I tuned into ‘Dome’ assuming that it would go one summer and come to a satisfying conclusion after the announced 13 episodes. Then CBS pulled a fast one and, due to the ratings, said it would not end and contracted for a second summer season.
I watched ‘H of C’ knowing there would 2 – 13 episode seasons. That this series would have a well-thought out, 2 season arc with a conclusion. Now greedy Netflix seems to be doing exactly what got all the ‘Dome’ initial viewers riled up.
Here’s a novel idea – don’t do it. 26 episodes is enough to bring ‘H of C’ in for a proper landing.

Schteveo • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

copper,
I started watching UtD, and I lasted about 45 minutes…just enough time to realize that CBS / the producers / the screenplay writer all thought THEY could write a better story than Stephen King.

AS IF!!!!

Karl Jamfest • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

Good point Justin. The world was hoping that you would weigh in about this. Good luck with your life loser.

Professor Falken • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

We waited. He weighed in. We are all happy, and better people for it. You might disagree.

Good luck on the rest of your life. You will need it more than Justin…

Ashok • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

Idk, I loved Spacey in this, but imho the basic cable networks are making much better shows than House of Cards.

Schteveo • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

TNT, USA, SyFy are all filled with good shows that the boobs at the Big 4 networks passed on. And I am including Fox now, who used to step up and run shows no one else would touch.

It’s hard to remember the last time Fox went for something different!

yeahright • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

While I agree that theatre owners have thrown up some roadblocks, Mr. Sarandos might want to know a little more about that end of the biz before making any more comments. Also, the NFLX model can be duplicated and making profitable movies is a little bit more difficult than running a barely profitable distribution arm, so (although he may be a nice guy personally), he might want to try sounding a little less like a know-it-all-jackass.

Sarandos is a jackass • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

Everytime this guy opens his mouth, I hate him even more. It is clear that the success has gotten to his head and made him think that he is an all knowing genius then he rally is.

Sareeta • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I would like an update on the 2014 series (Sense8 and the one about Pablo Escobar)?

Peter • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

House of cards is great and all but I really want to see Orange is the new black getting a long healthy run. It was the show that sold me on the Netflix model, though Arrested Development etc did help after the fact.

zac • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

GRAVITY just wouldnt be the same on netflix so no. Releasing big movies doesnt work. Indie to mid range tho cld work

You seemed to have completely missed the point. Gravity is the reason netflix model can co-exist with movie theaters. Even if gravity was on netflix lots of people would go to a movie to see it there and that’s fine that’s what netflix would want.

But maybe would choose to stay home and watch bad grampa on netflix. Thus the movies with a big budget would still get their big bucks, and crappy movies like jackass spin offs can be enjoyed at home and still be profitable

777 • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I wish I had bought some stocks of Netflix when they were at the very low price and rode it out like Carl Icahn did and cashed in hundreds of millions in gains. I missed the boat on this stock.
Any chance of Netflix ” splitting ” ? Into really low price so I can buy in ? :)
Maybe they should split the stock so they can get more investors to jump in :)
Carl Icahn knows how to shop and choose good value one and great returns. Following some of his picks is not a bad idea. Great in taste in food too.

Professor Falken • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

“In his remarks today, Sarandos also hinted about Netflix releasing “big movies ourselves” and slammed theatre owners for holding back innovation in the business.”

Oh he means doing what Phase 4 and Image and Anchor Bay and blah blah blah has been doing for years. Picking up these finished films ten cents on the dollar…. Now, if he meant SPENDING the money to MAKE them… then we might perk up.

I love HoC and Orange and look forward to more. Of course, I like the idea of a 13 episode show. There’s just too much out there for this kind of commitment. But, baby, I love watching Breaking Bad and what a hellava commitment that is. Whew!!!!

Blaine • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

Just stop. Stop this nonsense. It’s a ducking stupid show. We talk about this as if it is the next coming of Alan Greenspan. That fraud needs to die soon. He’s a troublemaker, like Weezer said.

Amanda • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I actually really enjoyed HoC. As someone who works in film & television, I loved the story arcs, and the performances were brilliant. Set dec, cinematography, editing, etc. It was the full and complete package.

Over Spacey • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I cannot imagine it will be easy to convince Spacey to go another season after he lost the Emmy and threw a public fit over it. The show really is not that interesting and the direct address is simply stupid. The only thing “groundbreaking” about the show is the way in which it is viewed, is that reason enough to keep it going?

House of cards is an excellent show and I hope they get many more seasons out of it

Harrison • on Oct 26, 2013 11:36 am

I know the direct address is supposedly a big no-no in the film industry, but in this case I like it. It’s as if you are his conscience and his rationalizations provide great insight into the mind of a sociopath. Real life seldom ends with truth and justice prevailing, especially when sociopaths are involved, so I don’t see why HofC must maintain that illusion. Perhaps there’s a better, more realistic lesson to be learned here.